Elias Says: October 7, 2017

Yan Gomes’s hit in the bottom of the 13th inning gave the Indians a 9-8 win in a game in which they trailed, 8-3, entering the bottom of the sixth inning. Prior to this game, there had been 515 postseason games in major-league history in which one team had a lead of five-or-more runs, and the team with the large lead won 499 of those 515 games (97 percent). The Yankees entered Game 2 with a 76-3 record in postseason games in which they led by at least five runs at any time, while the Indians had been 0-20 all-time in postseason games in which they trailed by at least five runs.

Bronx Bombers hit three homers with runners on base

Gary Sanchez (2-run homer), Aaron Hicks (three-runner) and Greg Bird (two-runner) all homered with at least one man on base for the Yankees on Friday night. That matched the Yankees’ franchise record for most homers with runners on base in a postseason game. The Bronx Bombers did that five times previously, the last being in Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS at Fenway Park. The Yankees who homered with runners on base in that game were Hideki Matsui, who hit two, and Gary Sheffield. The Yankees took a three-games-to-none lead in the series with a win in that game, but fell victim to David Ortiz, Johnny Damon and a bloody sock, losing the series in seven games.

Two dominant wins for Astros

The Astros took a two-games-to-none lead in the ALDS series against the Red Sox with a dominant 8-2 win after winning Game 1 of the series by the same score. Houston is the third team in major-league history to win each of the first two games of a postseason series by six or more runs. The Yankees won the first two games of the 1937 World Series against the Giants by identical 8-1 scores; and the Orioles beat the Mariners in the first two games of the 1997 ALDS by identical scores of 9-3. The Yankees won the 1937 Fall Classic in five games while the Orioles won the 1997 ALDS in four games.

Correa’s first-inning home run

Carlos Correa hit a two-run home run in the first inning to give the Astros a 2-0 lead in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Red Sox. Correa is the third player in major league history to hit a home run as a shortstop while batting in the fourth spot in the batting order in a postseason game. Nomar Garciaparra did it seven times for the Red Sox in 1998 and 1999; and Didi Gregorius did it for the Yankees in this year’s American League Wild Card game.

Rendon’s boot is costly

Anthony Rendon’s error in the sixth inning led to two unearned runs in the Cubs’ Game 1 win over the Nationals on Friday night. Rendon did not commit an error in his last 56 regular-season games at third base, finishing the 2017 season with the majors’ longest errorless streak at that position.

Two no-hit bids in the 2017 postseason

Stephen Strasburg took a no-hitter through 5⅔ innings against the Cubs in Game 1 of their series the night after Trevor Bauer took a no-no through 5⅓ against the Yankees in Game 1 of that series. This is the first time in postseason history that two different pitchers took a no-hitter through at least five innings in a series opener in the same season.

Hendricks and “Three Finger”

Kyle Hendricks did not allow a run in seven innings as the Cubs took Game 1 of their NLDS series against the Nationals. It was the second time in his career that Hendricks threw seven scoreless innings in a postseason game. He threw 7⅓ innings without allowing a run in Game 6 of the 2016 NLCS against the Dodgers. Only one other pitcher in Cubs history pitched two postseason games in which he threw at least seven innings without allowing a run. Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown had three such games, one in each of the World Series in 1906, 1907 and 1908.

Dodgers jump on Diamondbacks

Justin Turner hit a three-run homer and Yasiel Puig a run-scoring double in the Dodgers’ four-run first-inning. That’s the most runs the Dodgers have ever scored in the first inning of the first game of any postseason series. The last team to score four or more runs in the opening frame of Game 1 of a postseason series was the White Sox against the Red Sox in the 2005 ALDS. The White Sox scored five first-inning runs in Game 1 of that series, and went on to capture their first World Series championship in 88 years.

Jackets open season on a high note

Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves and five different players scored goals as the Blue Jackets produced the biggest season-opening victory in franchise history with a 5–0 win over the Islanders. Prior to this season, the team’s largest margin of victory in an opener had been by a 4–0 score against the Ducks to start the 2007–08 campaign. That was also the only previous shutout in a season opener for Columbus, with Pascal Leclaire in net for the Blue Jackets.

Two Jackets notch first NHL goal

Sonny Milano opened the scoring for Columbus just 67 seconds after the opening faceoff with his first NHL goal, and Pierre-Luc Dubois, making his NHL debut, got his first tally when he scored the final goal for the Blue Jackets. It was just the third time in team history that two Columbus players scored the first goals of their NHL career in the same game. The previous two pairs were Ryan Johansen and John Moore on Oct. 25, 2011 (vs. Detroit) and Tomas Kubalik and Ryan Russell on Jan. 13, 2012 (vs. Phoenix).

Point records three points

Brayden Point produced a goal and two assists, tying his career high for points in one game, to lead the Lightning to a 5–3 win in its season opener against the Panthers. His only other three-point night in the NHL came in Tampa Bay’s final game last season, a 4–2 victory over the Sabres in which Point scored two goals and assisted on one. That game in April capped a late-season hot streak for Point. He scored only nine goals in his first 53 games last season but then tallied nine times in his final 15 games, tying Nikita Kucherov for the Lightning team high over that stretch (March 13–April 9).